Tricks to Avoid the Treats

Halloween is just around the corner, which means two things are unavoidable next week: 1) scary costumes and 2) CANDY! While you might not be able to do much about the scary costumes, you can certainly arm yourself with “tricks” to minimize the intake of sweets that come your way. Here are just a few of our favorite tips for you to try next week:

1) Don’t Make it All or Nothing

The key to maintaining a healthy weight over the long run is moderation of high calorie foods. Depriving yourself of everything all the time, at least for most of us, is a recipe for disaster for long-term and sustained weight loss. Having a piece of candy here or there is better than not having any at all on Halloween and then binge eating later in the week. It’s Halloween and you certainly should enjoy the spirit of the day and enjoy your favorite candy, just don’t have a lot of it.

2) Empty Candy Bowls

Often times, the candy we eat comes from the leftover candy we did not give out on Halloween. We usually don’t open the packages of candy until right before the kids come to the door so there usually is little risk of consuming a lot beforehand. Afterward is a whole other story. Get rid of all the candy DURING Halloween and you won’t be tempted AFTER Halloween. This might mean giving out more to each person as you approach the end of the evening, making some late trick-or-treaters very happy, but at least it will be out of sight and out of mind.

3) Buy Candy You Hate

We all have our favorites that are hard to resist. A very easy way of eliminating any unnecessary temptation is to not buy those favorites and in fact, purchase candy that you out right hate eating. You won’t be tempted to snack on these while you give out the candy and you certainly won’t indulge after Halloween with these treats around.

If all else fails and you indulge a little too much on the candy, don’t beat yourself up as it’s not the end of the world. The important thing is to make sure it doesn’t derail you from your overall diet and to get back on track right away!